


Ceiling Fans and Idle Hands

by Lookformealaska



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Big friend group in mental hospital cuz why not, I'm not even sorry for this., M/M, Slow Burn, lots of different mental illnesses, triggering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:57:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7483242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lookformealaska/pseuds/Lookformealaska
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh has never been a social person but what will happen when he is admitted to a mental hospital and he meets the friends that could save him and a boy with sad eyes and a sweet smile. His life will never be the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Few, The Proud, The Emotional

**Author's Note:**

> (It sounds cheezy af but it's 2 am and it's not as cheesy as it sounds)

Josh's POV  
He lays back looking up at the ceiling the foreign place seemed so cold and dark. The walls seemed to have seen so many things they seem to slowly be closing in on the room making it smaller and smaller. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Its not real. It. Is. Not. Real. He tells himself trying desperately to fall asleep. It is his first night here. His parents admitted him after the first attempt a few nights ago. He knows they were just trying to help and he also knows he wants to get better and he wants to not feel like this anymore. What he doesn't know is how any of this is going to help. He doesn't get how being around a bunch of depressed people will help him get better. Eventually he falls asleep the slow steady sound of the ceiling fan spinning. 

Tylers POV  
"There is no way that DC is better then Marvel" Tyler argued.  
"No! DC has superman and batman! It's so better!" Brendon disagrees then lays down a few cards getting rid of the card on his stack. Skip-bo is the two friends favorite game to play.   
"Yeah but Marvel has Iron Man and Captain america and Deadpool. So I think I win" Tyler retorts laying down a few cards once it is his turn.   
"Whatever" He says then lays down a card and looks up at the door to the common room as someone enters. "Hey look fresh meat" Brendon says quietly.  
"Would you stop with that. They are not fresh meat they are people who came to get help just like us," He looks up and almost drops his cards.   
The boy who walked in is amazing. His hair was dark on the sides and deep blue on the top like an ocean. His eyes are a deep mocha color that Tyler wouldn't mind getting lost in for hours.   
The boy keeps his eyes down the entire time he walks into the room and takes a seat in the corner.   
"You might want to stop staring you're going to scare him" Brendon said with a chuckle. "He's hot though"   
All Tyler could do is nod and look back to his cards. "Yeah yeah it's your turn".  
"Oh right. I thought I'd wait until you were done gawking at him" He says with a smirk and sets down his cards "So are you going to go over there and say hi?"  
"Do you even know me?" He laughs taking his turn and winning the game "Hey! I win!" He says standing out of his seat excitedly.   
"That's like the first time since we've met!" Brendon adds with a laugh.  
"Oh shut up" He says sitting down again glancing at the blue haired boy. "So what now?"  
"I think we should introduce ourselves to the newbe over there" Brendon said collecting all of the cards.   
"No way. You can go ahead but I think it'd be better if I stayed here, ya know?" Tyler says looking from Brendon to the blue haired boy and back.   
"Fine okay but for all you know he could be the newest addition to our little group"  
Josh's POV  
Josh chooses to sit in a chair farthest away from everyone. He has never been the best at making friends so he keeps to himself until someone sits down next to him.   
"Hey, you're new aren't you?" The boy says. He is only a few inches taller then Josh and has dark brown hair that is shaved on the sides and longer on top. He is skinny to the point that it almost looks unhealthy.   
"Um yeah" He looks down at his hands nervously. Josh isn't used to people just walking up to him and starting a conversation with him. Before he came here people tried to avoid him as much as possible.  
"Well, I am the coolest guy around this joint and you look like you're in need of a friend" The boy cleared his throat looking at another boy sitting at a table across the room then back to Josh. "My name is Brendon"  
"Josh" he responded trying his best to give Brendon a smile.   
"Well Josh its a good thing you met me because I have a feeling you will fit in with us just fine."  
"O-okay" Josh tried his best to not be as timid as usual after Brendon seemed nice enough.  
"The rest of the guys are coming in in a minute you should come sit with us. I'll introduce you to everyone", Brendon stands up and looks to Josh expectantly.   
"Um...Brendon...I don't really do well with large groups of people"   
"Oh, they come in one at at a time so it wouldn't be like pushing you into a group of people but if you don't want to that's cool" Brendon said looking slightly disappointed.  
"That should be okay" he doesn't want to disappoint the first person who has been nice to him.  
"Okay we sit over here" He gestures for Josh to follow and heads over to the table where the other boy is seated. Josh sits across from the the boy and next to Brendon. The boy is about the same height as Brendon and he has dark brown hair as well but it is shorter then Brendons and a bit messier. His eyes were a beautiful hazel color but there was something deeper hiding behind them and his smile was sweeter then honey. It makes Josh wonder how someone could be such a contradiction like this.  
"Tyler this is Josh, Josh this is Tyler" Brendon introduced.  
"Hi" Josh half smiled.  
"Hey, Nice to meet you man" Tyler said with a smile. "Brendon wasn't to weird was he? He can be some times"   
Brendon glared at him in a what Josh thought to be a playful way. "Oh shut up Tyler, I'm not weird I'm awesome"   
Josh chuckled "No he was fine."   
The sound of a door opening and closing made all of them look up. In walked a short sweet looking boy. His hair was a blond color and he smiled as soon as he laid eyes on the group. He walked over and sat down next to Tyler.  
"Hey Pat. This is Josh, he's new" Brendon introduced like he said he would.   
"Hey, I'm Patrick" The blond haired boy said.  
"Josh" He said nervously as the boys looked him over.   
"Well Josh its cool to meet you, we will try to help you as much as possible" Patrick said with a sweet smile.   
"Thank you" He responded genuinely glad that some people are nice to him here.   
"Did I beat Pete out this time?" The boy now known as Patrick asks to no one in particular.  
"Yeah you did. He's taking longer then usual it must be a good day" Brendon answers looking up at the door as if waiting for someone. "So is Ryan"  
"Um where are they?" Josh says quietly pulling his sleeves to his palms and holding them there with his fingers.  
"Oh um we have days when we go to see our therapists while the rest of us are out here in the common area. You probably have it tomorrow like Brendon and I" Tyler answers while Brendon and Patrick talk about something else next to him.  
"Oh. Thanks" He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with those hazel eyes and he wasn't really sure why.   
"Ryan!" Brendon practically yelled from the seat beside him causing Josh to jump slightly.  
A boy with brown hair that frames his face sits down next to Brendon pecking him on the cheek. "Were you afraid I wasn't coming or something?"  
"No, no I am just excited to introduce you to our newest addition" Brendon turns to Josh. "Josh this is my boyfriend Ryan"   
"Hey" Josh said waving a sweater covered hand.  
"Hey man, welcome to our little clique." Ryans greeting earned a laugh from all of them but Josh who doesn't get what is so funny about it.  
"Pete should be out any minute" Brendon informs them all. "Then we can do the real introductions" For some reason the way Brendon says this has got Josh starting to worry. He doesn't know why but something about real introduction worries Josh. He doesn't want to scare away the only people who have been nice to him so far. But of course he knows that they are all here for their own reasons and would probably be pretty hard to scare away.  
"There's my favorite group of weirdos!" says a boy with eyeliner and black hair as he sits down next to Patrick.  
"Hey Pete!" Patrick says clearly very excited to see him. Josh can't help but wonder if they are dating too.  
"Pete this is Josh" Brendon says gesturing between the two of them. "thought he might fit in well with us"   
Pete looked him over a few times before cracking a smile. "I like your hair man"   
"Thanks" Josh says with a small smile. "Only way I could outwardly express myself ya know?"  
"Yeah I know" He says then looks around at the group.


	2. My friends and I have Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Group therapy (sorry it's a bit short they will start getting longer after this)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was written on my phone. There may be errors if so just let me know and I'd be happy to fix them. My computer charger isn't working so until I get another this is all I've got to work with

"So what are we going to do today now that the whole gang is here?" Pete asked no one in particular.

"Not sure we were waiting for you guys to decide what we should do. Since it took a while for you guys to all be done we've got group in a like half an hour" Patrick answered.

"I guess we'll just wait until tomorrow to actually do something" Pete said with a touch of disappointment.

Brendon and Ryan were already deep in conversation that Josh has just tuned out and Patrick and Pete started talking about something else so Josh just keeps his head down not wanting to interrupt anyone.

"So...aren't you curious?" The voice that he now knows to be Tyler asked. 

Josh looks up surprised that anyone is talking to him. "Curious about what?" 

“You know? Why we are all here. It’s usually one of the first things people ask when they sit with us” Tyler states matter of factly 

Josh shrugs avoiding eye contact “It’s kind of private and if they wanted me to know they would have told me.” Josh shrugs again for good measure.

Tyler smiles approvingly and nod. “I can already tell that you are going to fit right in with us Josh”

\-----------

We all sat around in a circle looking at each other as the therapy leader. She was a short black haired man who keeps trying to get the group started on sharing about themselves. Josh is trying his best to keep his head down praying to any god out there that would listen to not let him be called on. 

“Alright everyone, there is a new member to our group” The man says with a head nod towards Josh. “Everyone say hi to Josh.”

Everyone responded with a Hi Josh in an almost scary how in unison it came out. 

“Josh is there anything about yourself you'd like to share with the group?” The man asks.

Almost immediately his heart starts to beat faster and his eyes grow wide as he looks around the group. It is mostly people from the group he was introduced to earlier but there were a few new faces. Whenever he was put in front of people like this the same thing always happened. His hands start to shake and his palms get sweaty. His heart rate rises up and his vision starts to blur. All he can muster up is a small shake of the head before he looks down quickly wishing he would just disappear into the chair. 

No one around the group seemed to mind though. It also didn't look like any of them were to eager to share either. 

“Whelp Mr.G, as always I guess I'll start” Josh looks up and finds Brendon is the one speaking. “Since last time absolutely nothing has changed. As usual the food here sucks both times around and if it weren't for my crew I'm pretty sure I'd be extremely bored out of my mind here. No offence to you of course Mr.G.”

Josh can't help but let Brendons words sink in. He couldn't help but wonder what Brendon meant when he said the food sucked both times around.

“Thank you for sharing Brendon. Maybe if you had a nice talk with the kitchen staff something might change.” Mr. G said in a gentle tone. 

“Right of course” Brendon responded with a small chuckle. 

Josh looks up and over the group as someone else Josh hasn't met yet starts to talk. As he's scanning the circle he eyes fall on Tyler. He looks over the way his lips are a soft pink and his hair is a sea of brown. Then Josh looks to his eyes to find them staring back at Josh. He looks down a blush spreading over his cheeks. 

When he finally gets the courage to look up again Tyler is still looking at him a small smile on his lips and a blush on his cheeks. 

“And Tyler, last week you said you and your mom finally got permission to bring in the ukulele right?” Mr.G calls snapping both of them out of it.

“Umm Yeah. I can have it here in my room now that way I can still practice and write songs” Tyler says looking back to Mr.G. 

“Well good I'm glad!” Mr.G says glancing down at his watch. “That is all the time we've got for today everybody. It's time to go back to your rooms or the common room.” 

He gave us a small nod before standing from his seat. Josh sat there for a few minutes processing what Tyler had said. He was a musician and he wrote songs. From what Josh knew he couldn't help but want to be friends with him.


	3. I Hope I'm Not My Only Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh gets to know his new friends.

Josh decided he should probably go back to his room. He still had no idea who is roomate was. When he got there it was lights out time and his roommate had been asleep so he didn’t see who it was and when he woke up his they were already gone. 

He makes his way back to his room. Once he got there he set his backpack on his bed and started pulling out clothes to finally unpack. They had been able to keep their clothes that were approved by the people. So of course Josh brought his collection of skinny jeans and sweatshirts. He was also allowed to keep his “I want to believe” shirt after all it was his favorite.

He heard the door open and close behind him followed by soft footsteps walking across the room to the other bed. 

“J-Josh?” He heard a familiar voice question.

He turns around to find Tyler sitting on the edge of his bed. “Tyler? Are we rooming together?” Josh asked with a glimmer of hope. 

“It looks like we are.” Tyler gave Josh a small smile. 

Josh lets out a sigh of relief. Something about having to room with someone he didn’t know made his hand start to shake. Josh blinks a few times pushing away his thoughts. “I’m glad it was you and not someone new.” He sat down on the edge of his own bed. “I’m not so good with new people” Josh added slowly.

Tyler nods looking at him. “Yeah I get that.”

He sighed and looked around the room in the corner of the bed is a ukulele. Next to that is Tyler’s dresser with a few notebooks piled on top. Josh found himself standing up and wondering over to them.

“Do you write your songs in here?” He asked looking them over.

“Yeah...they are mostly just bits and pieces that eventually get put together.” Josh could feel Tyler’s eyes on him watching his every move. 

“Do you share them with anyone?” Josh turned back around to look at Tyler. Tylers face had paled as he shook his head. Josh stepped away from them he could see it was making Tyler uncomfortable.

“Sorry they’re just very personal. I haven’t shown them to anybody.” Tyler said keeping his eyes on the floor.

“No need to apologize man. I get it.” Josh said sitting down on his bed looking up at Tyler.

“How long have you been in here?” Josh finally asked.

“Um two weeks now” Tyler finally looked up at Josh to see him smiling softly back.

“So you know your way around this place?” Josh asked.

“Yeah I guess I do. I mean there are some people that tend to stick together our group being one of them.” Tyler shrugs and slides back on the bed sitting cross legged.

“It’s not so bad here. Your friends seem really nice too.” Josh was kind of curious about everyone in the clique but he didn’t want to outright ask.

“Yeah.” Tyler starts tapping his fingers along his leg.

“Tell me more about them? I don’t want to intrude or anything-” Josh shrugs.

“No, no it’s fine. I can tell you about them. So first off there is Pete. Pete is kind of like the leader of us. He’s been here the longest for about a month I think. His parents admitted him after he had a big outburst. Then there is his boyfriend Patrick. Patrick came in a week after Pete and they became friends and the rest is history I guess but they are really happy together and Pete helps Patrick see himself as beautiful. Then you’ve got Brendon.” Tyler pauses to laugh softly. “You met him first. He is very loud all the time just a warning if you hadn’t already noticed but he and Ryan are on and off all the time. It’s hard to keep track really but Ryan keeps changing his mind about the relationship. Then there is me. Um not much to tell really. I’m just a kid with a blurry mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter I know but they will get longer as I go I promise.


	4. I'll talk for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Tyjo have some late night chats

Three. Three is the number of words Josh has said since that night. 

He had been too busy thinking about what Tyler said for the past three days now. I’m just a kid with a blurry mind. Josh could relate to that but he wanted to know more. Josh wanted nothing more than to talk with Tyler for hours about everything. But of course he didn’t he just sat there blinking a few times before an orderly came in and told them lights out.

So for the past three days he’s been watching everyone like he usually does. He’s always been so shy and he rarely talks. Josh finds it easier to just watch. To watch and to observe the way that people act with each other.

He often watches the way that Pete tries to get Patrick to eat more even though it’s clear he really doesn’t want to. He also watches the way that Patrick helps Pete out on his bad days when he doesn’t really feel like talking or existing. It was clear they were made for each other. 

He also sees the way that Brendon and Ryan are obviously very close. They are usually touching in some way. He’s not completely sure why they aren’t an official thing but Josh thinks it might be because of the way that sometimes Ryan shy’s away from him or the way that he tries not to get too attached. He also sees the way that sometimes Brendon gets up from the table after a meal and leaves for only a few minutes and the slightly worried look of Ryan when he does.

Most of all though. His eyes have been on Tyler. Josh has been focused on the way his face moves when he smiles and the way it usually doesn’t reach his eyes. He watches the way that sometimes he will completely space out and stare out the window watching the trees move. Josh sees the way that he cares about his friends like when he jokes around with them. One thing he noticed that he wasn’t sure he was supposed to was the way that he sits up in the middle of the night and grabs the little book next to his head. He opens it up and Josh can hear him scribbling down something. He is painfully curious about what it is that he’s writing about but always decides to stay silent. Sometimes after he's done with the writing he picks up his ukulele and strums a few chords. To Josh’s dismay though Tyler never sang. 

So as Josh sat at the table while everyone is eating lunch he is watching and learning what he can from his new friends. One of his favorite parts about this place was that none of his new found friends cared if he was chatty or not. Josh wasn’t even sure that anyone had even noticed he was so quiet. That is until one night while Josh was lying in bed like usual he heard Tyler’s bed creak and then small footsteps headed towards his bed. Josh was painfully award of his heart beating in his chest as he felt the edge of his bed dip down slowly. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder then a soft whisper. “Josh?” 

He held his breath hoping he would think he was sleeping. “Josh? Come on I know you’re awake.”

He sighed and rolled over sitting up. 

“You don’t like talking very much do you?” Tyler asked. Josh just shakes his head in response. 

“That’s okay. You don’t need to talk. I can talk enough for the both of us.” Tyler said with a toothy grin that Josh couldn’t help but return. “Um Josh...can I tell you something?” 

Josh nodded silently.

“S-sometimes I have a hard time falling to sleep and I noticed you did too. It helps to talk...you know to fall asleep.” He looks down at his hands nervously. “Do you mind if I talk to you?”

Josh smiled and looked at him and shook his head hoping that conveyed the right message. So they lay down shoulder to shoulder in the twin size bed. Tyler began to talk and Josh began to listen until both of their eyes slowly fluttered shut and their breathing became steady and dreams filled their heads.


End file.
